Lakers make the Magic disappear in Game 1! Kobe with 40 & now averaging 35ppg since being downgraded by Jerry West!

On May 18th, Lakers legend Jerry West was quoted as saying that LeBron James had “surpassed” Kobe Bryant as the NBA’s best player. That next day, May 19, Kobe “went off” for 40pts leading the Lakers past Denver 105-103 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against Denver.

Since that “dis” from The Logo, Kobe has been spectacular. In the next 7 playoff games, #24 is shooting 48% from the field on 79-165 for just a shade under 35ppg. That includes tonight’s offensive explosion against the Orlando Magic. How about this for a line: 40pts, 8reb, 8ast, 2stls and 2 blks in the Lakers 100-75 Game 1 demolition of the Magic.

After the game, Phil Jackson noted that “Kobe didn’t shoot very well,” but he was impressed with his “drive.” He was a better-than-respectable 16-34 shooting, and it’s hard to imagine him delivering a more spectacular, more assertive, more ridiculously dynamic performance than what we witnessed tonight. Kobe ate the magic alive. Guys like Michael Pietrus, Courtney Lee and JJ Redick on KB24 is like a mink coat on Rosie O’Donnell. It’s ugly.

Since Jerry West downgraded Bryant, he’s not just scoring. Kobe is filling up the box score as prolifically as any player in NBA history. He’s averaging 6reb, 6ast, 1stl per game, and he’s even managed 5 blocked shots. And he is doing what his critics have always said he would never do. He’s making everyone around him better.

As for the Magic, they had a disastrous shooting night. They were launching laser guided missiles when they sunk the Cavaliers, but tonight their scuds were off-target all night. 30% from the field on 23-77? The Lakers defended the pick-and-roll proficiently and Dwight Howard was only 1-6 from the floor. He went to the line 16 times (making 10), but 12pts and 15reb is a very quiet night for the Beast from the East. The 5 Magic starters – Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu – were a combined 11-46. That’s a horrific 24%!

Before the game, TJ Simers badgered Phil Jackson about whether or not a head coach really has much influence at this point in the season. The guy with all the rings said that he believes his players will know how to play in a game like this and “that there will be some real coaching between Games 1 and 2.”

That’s got to send a shiver down the spine of every Orlando fan. Now comes the "real coaching." Phil Jackson vs. Stan Van Gundy? That’s chess versus checkers. Which coach will make better adjustments? That’s like choosing between Rembrandt and a kid with finger paints.

You’ve got to question Van Gundy’s Jameer Nelson gambit. Some Orlando media guys were grousing in the press-room about Stan screwing up the team chemistry by jamming the pride of St. Joe’s back into the mix.

On Thursday’s Mason & Ireland Show, Rick Fox made a great point. The Magic had just won a Game 7 at Boston and ousted the team with the best record in the league. They became the Eastern Conference champions and point guard Rafer Alston was playing at a very high level. Now, Alston has spent the last 5 days answering questions about Nelson's amazing return. Can't be good for the confidence and self-esteem.

Van Gundy said after the game that he doesn’t think “Jameer coming back can make Rafer miss shots,” but I disagree. You can argue that the Magic were the hot team coming into the series, but suddenly people were talking about Nelson being “the X-factor.” After a few solid minutes in the 2nd quarter, Jameer just wasn’t very good and Alston’s game was derailed with 2-9 from the field and 0-4 from beyond the arc. Team chemistry is always very delicate and Jameer Nelson may be the equivalent of too much salt in the Orlando stew.

If Howard doesn’t get his game together and Alston doesn’t return to form and the Magic don’t start shooting straight and Van Gundy doesn’t figure out how to defend Kobe Bryant and the Orlando Magic don’t win Game 2. This series is over and a sweep isn’t impossible.

Comments

Great stuff as always, John. I am very excited to see how both teams adjust for game 2. How will they play Kobe? What kind of performance can we get from Bynum again? How does Van Gundy handle the Jameer / Wafer situation?

Do you think that Jerry West was just giving an honest opinion, or was he trying to light a fire in Kobe. If so, let's hear a lot more from Jerry.

I've always said that I would rather have an average player giving his best, than an injured, rusty star, trying to do more than he is physically capable of doing, coming back from an injury. The Alston-Nelson situation is an example of this, and you are absolutely right that the team chemistry Orlando developed on the back of Rafer Alston has been dealt a serious blow. One example of the chess/checkers analogy.